Walking toy



Feb. 6, 4923. 4,444,389.

B. E. ROSSLING.

WALKING TOY.

FILED Aue.2 4.192o.

lm/@zzr Barnard E Roesslng Per @MM/M 'his f,

bear, walking on tworlegs.

Patented il?1 eb.. 6, i923.

FRANCIS J. MANEELEY, OF PI IIDADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

j. WALKNG TOY.

Application tiled August 24, 1920. Serial No. 405,685.

To all @07mm t may concern.'

Be it known that l, BERNARD E. RonssLiNe, a citizen ont the' UnitedStates, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania., certain new and useful improvements in VialkingToys, of which the following is a specication.

This device is designed to simulate the movements ot a living creature,especially a The ligure is held by its upper part, the head, shoulder orfront paw, and, as it moves along the hind legs will simulate themovements of the legs of the animal. The bear has its joints somewhatsimilar to the human leg; it is a plantigrade; and on account or thecaricatureA of human movement presented by a bear walking on its hindlegs, the'movements of the walking figure are very natural and at thesame time comical.

F ig. l is a side view ot' the toy. .F ig. 2 is a side elevation of themechanical structure of the saine. Fig. 3 is a detail view ot' the partsforming the hip j oint. Fig. et is a view of a modified hip jointconstruction. F ig. 5 shows the skeleton ot' the hip piece, shoulder andconnecting rod.

The toy has a stued body and head and vforelegs, which are kept inposition by a rod 3 extending from the hip piece 5 to the shoulder piecel, consisting of a cross bar that has its ends extending close to thecover at the shoulders 2, and which is secured to the upright piece 3,which fixes the position oiA the shoulders 2 and the forelegs 4f andgives a suicient rigidity to the body oi. the toy to enable the childplaying with it to make it walk by taking hold of the arm or shoulder.

The hip piece 5 is of rigid material. lt is provided with the extension6, which may be of a yielding` material, it desired, and enables the toyto take a sitting position as will be described below. The extension 6,projects downward trom the main part oil the hip piece sufficient tocause the body of the toy to sit erectly, the body being supported bythe extension 6, and the back of the upper leg portion, 9. rlhese latterare connected at the edges oi these bevelled upper rods to the edge oi'the downwardly projecting bevelled portion ot' the hip portion. Thecentre of gravity of the body when the toy is seat-ed lies between thisextension 6, and the joint between the upper leg portion and the haveinvented hip piece but much nearer the latter. `This permits the body,when the toy is seated to be rocked forward, until it is stopped by theContact ot the front incline of the down- `Yardly projecting bevelledpart of the hip piece. The rod 3 can be screwed into the hip piece 5.lt' this rod be of metal, and the piece 5 and bar l oi wood theconnection between them can be very simply and cheaply made. j

`The hind leg pieces 9 and 8 that form the upper and lower portions ofthe legs respectively are made substantially rigid, so as to keep themfirm and give proper support to the operating devices connecting them toeach other and to the hip piece 5. The hind tiet should be made alsorigid, so that the full effect oit walking' be given, as the rollingaction in these feet forms a part of the operation otthe device. l

The joint between the hip piece 5 and the upper hind leg (piece 9) ofthe toy is a leaf hinge having one leaf attached to one of these partsand pressing against but free from the other. ills shown the leaf l0 issecured to the inclined top 14 et the upper piece 9 ot the hind leg, andthe spring l2 pushes outward the leal" ll into Contact with the underside lil of the piece 5. The inclined top 141 of the upper portion 9 olfthe hind leg and the inclined portion 13 oi' the hip piece 5 are soarranged that the spring will litt slightly the piece 9 if free but canbe compressed readily by the slight friction oi the toot on the ground.The inclined lower end l5 of the piece 9 and the inclined upper end ofthe piece 8 are arranged to allow the bending at the knee. These twoparts are connected by the spiral springs 16, that tend. to hold the twopieces 9 and 8 in alignment.

The coveringupon the toy can be made to simulate the hairy skin oie abear and be stuffed out to take the bears shape. This cover can alsoserve to limit the movements oil. the parts. For instance, the forwardmovement ot the part 9 is limited by the portion et the cover betweenthe extension and the part 9, and a possible reversed bendat the kneesis prevented by the portion of the cover covering their back portions.A. somewhat like result can be obtainec by the covering and rear portionof the knees. This cover fits tightly upon the thigh pieces 9 and theshin pieces 8. i

lGO

will then throw the other leg slightly for-` ward inclining the thighmore forward and letting the lower leg and foot drop a little, thusadvancing the leg and giving a close semblance to the waddle of a bear.The

otherleg isheld meanwhile back by the fric- 'tion of the foot on theground. As the toy is moved further forward, the weight of the toy willbring the lifted foot to the ground and the springs 16 will straightenthe legs. The `springs can be made so that they will bend under theweight of the lower leg and foot but yet straighten the leg when the legis under the body (as above described) and this will relieve the otherleg of thekbody weight, which will havel compressed its hip springconsiderably and throw the leg for ward. This action will be re )catedand an excellent simulation of the waddling walk of a bear will beproduced. lhen the toy is to sit the projection and the lower side ofthe parts 9will rest on the supporting surface.

l claim at the knees and l. The combination in a walking toy of a hippiece, an upright rod secured to the hip piece, a shoulder piecesubstantially at right angles to said upright rod and secured tosa1ne,leg pieces jointed to said hip piece and having springs operatingat said hip portions and said knees, and a cover, provided with stuiingat the body portions filling out the shape of' the toy and covering theleg portions, but fitting tight to the leg portions on either side ofeach joint and limiting the amount of turning permitted at each joint,said cover having stuffed front leg portions at the ends of the shoulderpieces. i

2. rlhe combination in a walking toy with a verticaljrod and shoulderpiece substantially at right angles with said rod, of a hip piecesecured to said vertical rod and having two projections, one of which isbevelled and has a horizontal edge, upper andlower leg pieces jointedand springing at the knees, the upper ends of each'upper leg piece beingbevelled, said'upper leg pieces being jointed along the edge of thebevel to the lower edge of the downwardly projecting bevelled portion ofthe hip piece.

ln testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

BERNARD E. ROESSLING.

